"Sundae, bloody cold sundae," said Carolina's assistant coach Kevin McCarthy, here with daughter Mallory. U2 would say that if you were eating ice cream out of the world's greatest sundae dish. (Walt Neubrand/HHOF)

Jeff Daniels retired from the Hurricanes as a player on November 17, 2003, after having played for the Penguins, Panthers, Predators, Hartford Whalers and Carolina, then joined the team as an assistant coach one month later. On August 13, Jeff took possession of the Stanley Cup in Raleigh for his day with hockey's big prize. Joined by wife Jennifer and daughter Jordan, Jeff took the Cup to his Morrisville, North Carolina home to celebrate with friends and family. After the kids ate a gigantic sundae out of the bowl of the Cup, the assistant coach took Lord Stanley's trophy to Lucky B's Around the Corner, the bar owned by former Hurricane, Bates Battaglia, now working to catch on with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Joining Daniels and Battaglia at Lucky B's were Kevyn Adams, Rod Brind'Amour, Erik Cole, Coach Laviolette and Jim Rutherford, the team's president and general manager. After celebrating their victory until 2:00 AM, the gang ordered pizza for a very late night snack.

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The next day, August 14, the Stanley Cup spent the day in Farmington Hills, Michigan with goaltending coach and scout, Greg Stefan. After starting his path to the NHL as a teammate of Wayne Gretzky's in Brantford, Ontario, Stefan went on to join the Detroit Red Wings, where he played parts of 9 seasons before a knee injury curtailed his quest for the Cup. Greg, joined by his entire family, made a surprise appearance with the Stanley Cup at his son Joe's graduation party from Farmington High School. Greg, his wife Diana, other son Will and his parents Frank and Barbara, congratulated Joe and let him know that if he keeps his eyes on the prize, in his case, studies at Oakland Community College, he too will be justly rewarded.

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Equipment manager Bob Gorman took the Stanley Cup to Hartford, Connecticut on August 15. Although airline schedules delayed the Cup's arrival by several hours (leaving the air as blue as the Carolina sky from Bob's tirade), he made the most of his remaining day. The first stop was Veterans Memorial Skating Rink in West Hartford.

The Cup was put on display and fans were invited to get their photos taken with the prize earned by the Hurricanes, with money raised going towards two athletic scholarships at Conard High School. The Lance Corporal Lawrence R. Philippon Memorial Scholarship Fund is in recognition of a family friend of Gorman's. Philippon attended Conard and was an avid hockey player. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 2003 and chose to serve in the war in Iraq. In Ubaydi, Iraq on May 8, 2005, Philippon was caught in a stairwell, and was killed in the line of duty serving his country. Through Bob Gorman's generosity, $3500 was raised through photos taken with the Stanley Cup, and will be applied directly to the scholarships designated in Lance Corporal Philippon's name.

Afterwards, Gorman took the Stanley Cup to his parents' home for a backyard party. One hundred fifty guests, including broadcaster Chris Berman sporting a Whalers' cap, enjoyed the company of the Stanley Cup.

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Skip Cunningham, the Hurricanes other equipment manager, took possession of the Stanley Cup on August 16 in Boston, Massachusetts. After a visit to Children's Hospital Boston, hockey's greatest prize visited the Boston Red Sox. In the clubhouse at Fenway Park, slugger David Ortiz did a double-take when he saw the Cup. "My my," he said, shaking his head. "Look at this trophy! Look what those hockey players get to play for. Now that's a trophy!" Pitcher Mike Timlin stopped by to ogle the Cup, and recalled occasionally attending Maple Leafs games when he played in Toronto for the Blue Jays. Up on the Green Monster in Fenway Park's outfield, Cunningham and the Cup ran into Doug Flutie, retired NFL quarterback, who spun stories about watching hockey while he played in the Canadian Football League. Carolina's Craig Adams, a huge Red Sox fan, was also there with the Stanley Cup.

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Chris Huffine, Carolina's video co-ordinator, didn't have much luck fishing, but there's one big one that didn't get away! (Walt Neubrand/HHOF)

Chris Huffine, Carolina's video co-ordinator, enjoyed a day with the Stanley Cup on Monday, August 28. After the engraving takes place, Chris will officially become the first North Carolinian to have his name on the Stanley Cup. Huffine loves to fish, and at 5AM, was sitting in a boat on Falls Lake with his brother David, local fishing legends Kennon Brown and Steve Jones, and the Stanley Cup in a life preserver, all trying to hook some bass. Falls Lake is about 20 miles north of Raleigh, and renowned for its abundant fishing. As they sat with their rods dangling, Chris just shook his head. "I was never good enough to win this as a player, so this has got to be the next best thing!" After nary a nibble, they moved to a second spot. And a third. And a fourth. By then, it was getting hilarious. Finally, in the fifth sure-fire spot on Falls Lake, Huffine snagged a small fish, and placed it and a few cups of water in the bowl of the Stanley Cup. "Mission accomplished," laughed Chris, a little embarrassed at his day on the lake. Hey, never mind! He and the team caught the big prize last June!

Chris took the Stanley Cup back to his brother David's home in Wake Forest for family portraits, then dropped by for a visit to his wife's chiropractic practice. Then, the brothers climbed into a limousine with the Stanley Cup and were taken to Pleasant Ridge United Church of Christ Cemetery in Greensboro, North Carolina for a quiet visit their Dad Sam, who died of cancer last November. The boys crossed the street for a communion service at Ebenezer Lutheran Church.

After a private party with coaches and support staff back in Raleigh, Coach Laviolette coaxed Chris to celebrate just a little more. "Come on, Chris, the night is still young!" They took the Stanley Cup to Playmakers, a Raleigh sports bar.

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Sheldon Ferguson, Carolina's Director of Amateur Scouting, was in Kitchener, Ontario with the Stanley Cup and decided to visit some friends who work as
hard at their daily task as the Hurricanes did day-in and day-out to win
their hockey championship. (Walt Neubrand/HHOF)

Mike Amendola, the Chief Financial Officer of the Carolina Hurricanes, was next in line to spend a day with the Stanley Cup, which he on Tuesday, August 29. Taking the Cup to Bradford, Connecticut, Amendola stopped first at his house to show family and friends, then set the Cup up for photo opportunities at the East Haven Athletic Complex. Mike's gesture helped raise over $2,000 for the East Haven Minor Hockey Association.

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Sheldon Ferguson, the Hurricanes' Director of Amateur Scouting, enjoyed his day on Wednesday, August 30 in Kitchener, Ontario along with wife Dorie and their children, Troy and Kelly. Very proud to now be a recovering alcoholic, at 10 that morning, Sheldon took the Stanley Cup to the detox centre in order to help some folks who are battling the same demon he once faced. "A lot of good things happen here," Ferguson announced. He then took the Cup to his home, where family and friends waited. "We came so close in '02, and I cried when Detroit beat us," he began, then followed by thanking everyone in the room for playing a role in helping him become part of the Stanley Cup championship this year. After photos and toasts, Sheldon took the Cup to the Rebel Creek Golf Club, where members got pictures with the Cup. Then, over 700 fans arrived at Scherer's Fairway Auto Mall to get a photograph with the Cup. $740 was raised and donated by Ferguson to Ray of Hope, an addiction treatment centre for teenagers.

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"Just a little off the Cup, okay Franco?" Scout Tony MacDonald took the Stanley Cup to Guelph, Ontario for a trim. (Walt Neubrand/HHOF)

Later that afternoon, the Stanley Cup made the short trip to Guelph, Ontario as the special guest of Tony MacDonald, an amateur scout for Carolina. After a visit to the house he shares with wife Ruth, Tony took the trophy to see his good friends at Franco's Barber Shop. They now have one more photo to add to their wall of fame. Then, it was over to Gryph's Sports Bar, overlooking the ice surface at the University of Guelph. Fans got pictures taken with the Cup, with over 300 showing up, and money raised went to the SuperWalk for Parkinson's. Afterwards, MacDonald took the Stanley Cup to his house for a backyard party. 150 people arrived, enjoying good food, great company, a trampoline for the kids and, of course, the presence of the greatest trophy in sports - the Stanley Cup!

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The final stop on the Hurricanes tour was on Friday, September 22 at the Poulsbo, Washington home of Hurricanes' scout, Bert Marshall. Beginning in 1965-66, Marshall dreamt, like every other NHL player, that one day, he too would be able to hoist the Stanley Cup over his head, shout 'Yeah! And revel in the feeling of being able to call yourself a Stanley Cup champion. But during a solid career on the blueline beginning with the Red Wings, continuing with the Seals and concluding with the Islanders, Bert's teams never accomplished a Cup championship. He retired in 1979 with the dream unfulfilled.

Fastforward to 2006, when Bert Marshall got to realize his dreams. As an amateur scout for Carolina, Marshall's opinions have contributed to the team winning hockey's most difficult and exhausting challenge. Bert may not have won the Cup as a player, but he discovered that it feels pretty damn good at any time in your life.

Poulsbo is a quiet yet exciting community of about 7,500 citizens located about an hour south of Seattle on the shores of Liberty Bay. At 9:30, Bert Marshall met the Stanley Cup and took it to his Poulsbo home, where through the day, family, neighbours and friends dropped by to congratulate Bert and to experience the Stanley Cup in all its glory. Late in the afternoon, the adults toasted, pouring bottles of Silver Oak red wine into the bowl of the Cup and taste the sweetness of victory.
Dreams definitely do come true!

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And so, the summer saga of the Stanley Cup comes to an end. Training camps are in full swing and the Carolina Hurricanes will spend the next nine months defending their Stanley Cup crown. The excitement of hockey is that the unexpected is inevitably bound to rear its head  a player who steps up and leads his team to victory, an injury that dashes the dreams of a team and a season, a team that gels at the right time with the right mix of personnel. We'll be glued to our TVs, radios, computers and newspapers, anxious to discover how the race is shaping up game by game, week by week, month by month. Will Carolina be able to repeat? Will a dark horse emerge unexpectedly? It's the stuff that rivets fans to hockey - the legends made, the stories chronicled, the good, the bad and sometimes, the oh so ugly. We'll miss players whose careers have come to an end, and welcome an exciting new crop that will carry the dreams of a new generation with it.

The Stanley Cup logged thousands of miles, traversing North America and Europe. It is at the crux of hockey's most intense battle, making it the most revered and beloved trophy in sport. It draws nations together through competition, and makes us realize and appreciate how small the world of hockey truly is.
Mythical, mystical, worshipped and revered, the 113-year-old Stanley Cup is ready to be at the crux of yet another exhilarating season of competition.

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The Stanley Cup never travels unaccompanied, and on Friday, the Stanley Cup Journal will introduce you to the unsung heroes who make each summer an extraordinary and unforgettable experience for Stanley Cup-winning players, team employees and, of course, the fans who follow every move of hockey's greatest treasure…the Stanley Cup.

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Kevin Shea is the Hockey Hall of Fame's Editor of Publications and Online Content.